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Time to Invoke the 25th. Swear in Pence as Acting President

This is the most serious of the blogs I’ve written. There is no cartoon, no pictures, just words. I hope you find time to read them.

What I’m about to say is serious and is not said with malice. I have given the issue considerable thought and have conducted ample research to arrive at the conclusion that the President of the United States, Donald Trump is unfit and unable to perform the duties of his office. It is time or at least near the time to consider invoking the 25th amendment that would remove him from office and swear in Mike Pence as the Acting President. Trump’s unhinged, irrational behavior could pose a danger to all of us.

Here’s how it works. In Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the Constitution it says that if, for whatever reason, the vice president and a majority of sitting Cabinet secretaries decide that the president is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” they can simply put that down in writing and send it to two people — the speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate.

Then the vice president could be sworn in and would immediately become “Acting President,” and take over all the president’s powers.

If the president wants to dispute the action he can ask congress to settle the matter with a vote. A two-thirds majority in both houses would be necessary to keep the vice president in charge. Conversely, that same group of people can also declare the President “Fit to return to office,” That’s why the term “Acting President” would be applied to Mike Pence.

Let’s look at why I believe this should be done. Last night again the Billionaire President returned to the stump to continue his attack on the First Amendment by blasting the press for being dishonest and hiding the truth from the American people. The problem, though, is the reverse of what he is saying. The media are telling the truth and he doesn’t like it because the truth conflicts with his delusion.

Last night Trump was in Melbourne, Florida where he told a crowd of about 9,000 die-hard fans that contrary to press reports his administration was working like a “well-oiled” machine. That’s a little hard to believe with the missteps and leaks. Was Mike Flynn working like a well-oiled machine? When Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer have different versions of the truth is that a well-oiled machine? When the National Security Advisor lies to the Vice President is that a well-oiled machine? When the President himself can’t get his facts right, is that a well-oiled machine?

Trump’s continual attacks on the press and the judiciary are the only evidence of consistency. That and the fact that he bristles and attacks whenever anyone dissents, or criticizes. When Trump speaks it is almost as though we are hearing a stream of consciousness; whatever goes through his mind comes out of his mouth. Presidents must weigh every word because of international ramifications, Trump does not. When reporters asked Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer who wrote the Melbourne speech, Spicer replied that the President wrote it himself. Which is probably an indication of his withdrawal and reverting to ways of old in which he only trusted himself and his family. He has hired some of the world’s finest experts, but their expertise is worthless if he doesn’t seek their advice or listen to them when they offer it.

The most stunning and unexplainable behavior, though, is his ongoing praise and support for Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin. Russia opposes us at every opportunity. They side with and Arm Iran and oppose Israel. Russia sides with Syria as we apply sanctions to the country and worst of all the Kremlin made every attempt to influence our presidential election and may have succeeded, we don’t know yet but President Trump denies it. 17 U.S. Intelligence agencies agree that Russia was behind a good many of the negative stories about Hillary Clinton yet, Mr. Trump says it didn’t happen that it is “fake” news. That label coming from the inventor of fake news with his charges that President Obama wasn’t born here. Trump never offered a scintilla of evidence to prove that point but enjoyed smearing our first African American President. And yet he has the nerve to accuse the media of offering “Fake” news?

Last night in the Melbourne speech, he shocked Swedish officials when he said that terrorism was running rampant in Europe. “Look at what’s happening in Sweden.” Sweden? That comment left Swedish officials and others scratching their collective heads because nothing happened in Sweden.

The absurd statement caused the Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt to Tweet “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.”

And this morning on the NBC news show Meet the Press, Arizona Senator John McCain showed great courage when he defended the press and the first amendment. “If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. Without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That’s how dictators get started.”

Speaking to the show’s host Chuck Todd, McCain said, “But the fact is we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. It’s vital. They (dictators) get started by suppressing free press, In other words, a consolidation of power. So, when you look at history, the first thing that dictators do is shut down the press.”

It was this tweet by a beleaguered President Trump that started the latest controversy

On January 20th the President took the oath of office. “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute theOffice of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

The tweet about the Press being the enemy of the American people is in no way consistent with the oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States. This was a direct attack on one of the five guarantees of the first amendment and a violation of his oath of office.

When you combine the attacks on the press with his attacks on the judiciary it is obvious he is trying to undermine two of the most powerful checks and balances in our system.

Senator McCain won’t say it and neither will any other public official but I will. I believe the President has become unhinged and is out of control. Even his staff is out of the loop as this Lone Ranger Chief Executive runs amuck, trusting no one, holding surprise news conferences, tweeting nonsense in the middle of the night, reliving the Presidential campaign and not only lying about it but repeating lies that have been debunked. His victory was not “”yuuge” it was slim. He did not do well with African Americans or Hispanics and there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that some 3 to 5 million illegal votes were cast and “Not one of them” for him. And that’s not the end of it. Contrary to his campaign promise to release his tax returns when the audit is complete, his staff now says he won’t release them at all.

Candidate Trump said he would build a wall and the Mexicans would pay for it and now he says we will pay for it and collect from them later, he lied to us. He has alienated our best ally Australia, is on a path to cause a recession in Mexico, has offended the entire intelligence community and in a recent statement that suggested he would accept a one-state solution to the Israel/Palestinian issue he may have encouraged terrorists to commit more acts of violence.

I cannot think of a single issue upon which I could agree with Vice President Pence but at least he has an understanding of government and is measured in his statements even when forced to defend the nonsense put forth by the President. It may soon be time to either begin impeachment proceedings or to invoke the 25th amendment to the constitution and swear in Pence as Acting President because Mr. Trump is unable to perform the duties of his office. I came to that conclusion with an ache in my heart. That the United States of America should experience this embarrassment is unconscionable. As long as Mr. Trump is in office the great divisions in this country will only expand. It’s time to stop it and the buck stops there, with him, in his office.

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4 thoughts on “Time to Invoke the 25th. Swear in Pence as Acting President”

Bob, one of the scariest things Trump said at his rally was that it was nice to be among “his” people. He still doesn’t get — and will never get — that the population of the USA constitutes “his” people. I spoke at length yesterday with a long-time friend who is French and now lives in a suburb of Paris. She and her husband are less liberal than I am. They are both of the mind that Trump is not fit for the job and say their news media report regularly that the US government is in chaos. They are hoping that, given what French people are seeing about the US, there will be fewer votes for Marine LePen, the far-right candidate, in the May elections. They say she definitely will be in the top two (there is a “primary” of sorts in April; the top two go to the general in May). we’ll see. Stephanie

You’re right, Bob, and embarrassing is the least of what it is… it is dangerous and frightening. I feel all of this will not end well!! Waiting for what will happen next each day is beyond excruciating… for all of us who are paying attention. Thank you for a great piece and I will indeed share it!